Improvements and materials for production of a magnetic drive micropump: an overview and recommendations

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of an improved solution for an existing micropump model and, also, of the materials recommended to be used in the current stage of the prototype research. This micropump is provided with a closed system for driving and pumping the fluid, obtained by a special constructive solution, where the rotation of the motor shaft is provided by induction of a magnetic field. The micropump system is composed by an external driving and an internal driven magnet, connected to a pair of gears that moves the fluid between the inlet and outlet apertures. These magnets are separated by a metal cover that provides a closed volume for the transported fluid with no need for supplementary sealing, as in the case of classical hydraulic pumps. Due to this constructive solution and to the applicative fields where these magnetic drive micropumps operate, their components are produced from compatible materials to provide a low friction/wear and high efficiency in use

Researches on the Design and Operation of a Magnetic Drive Micropump for the Mixing of Compatible Fluids

“…In our research project, the constructive and functional parameters of a corrected gear solution are calculated through mathematical method and then used in a 3D parametric modeling. This led us to a first micropump solution presented in a previous paper [3]. Further research has been done to reduce the occurrence of wear on certain components of the micropump.…”

“…Thus, to improve the relative displacement and reduce the overall volume of the micropump, an innovative three-gear variant was designed. Through calculations and based on literature review [2,3,4] we concluded that displacement of the mixed fluid (flow) of the three-gear micropump is double compared with the previous solution, still in use in many applications in industry.…”

“…The micropump is provided with a closed system for driving and pumping a mixed fluid. The rotate motion of the driving gear is accomplished by inducing a magnetic field [3,5] without an external mechanical drive from an electric motor, as in the case of conventional pumps.…”

“…The studied micropump uses a technology that involves an external driving magnet, attached to the pump assembly, and an internal magnet. When the external electric motor turns in a certain direction it spins the driving magnet [1,3]. As a result, the created magnetic field from the driving magnet causes the driven magnet connected to one gear to rotate the other gear(s), training the fluids inside and outside the micropump through the inlet and outlet apertures.…”

“…The holes for mounting and supporting the gears' shafts and the suction shoe element are also identified. Inside the body, mounted at the end of the pinion shaft, there is placed a helical spring used to lock this shaft when the micropump assembly is closed with the metal cover [3,5]. The micropump gears are driven by the rotor magnet, assembled and oriented on the pinion shaft through a splined rigid coupling.…”